Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that a Monday MRI revealed the worst-case scenario for Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt: a complete tear of his right ulnar collateral ligament that will likely put an end to his 11-year Major League career.

For the time being, Betancourt will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow with the faint hope that it will help to form scar tissue that will allow him to pitch again. Should that method fail, Betancourt is likely to retire rather than undergo Tommy John surgery at this stage of his career.

Betancourt, who will turn 39 next April, has been a force in Colorado's bullpen since coming over from the Indians in a trade back in 2009. With the Rockies, he's tallied a 3.08 ERA with 9.0 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a pristine 1.007 WHIP. He's totaled 646 1/3 innings of 3.19 ERA ball with well over a strikeout per inning in a strong Major League career.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss described Betancourt as a "warrior" after talking with him following the MRI, and Renck writes that he's seen few players prepare harder for each day than Betancourt:

“That’s because I could take nothing for granted. Every day I had to prove myself,” said Betancourt, a converted minor-league infielder. “I wasn’t going to leave anything to chance.”

Betancourt's contract contains a $4.25MM mutual option that will obviously be declined, earning him a $250K buyout. Including that buyout, Betancourt will have earned roughly $23.3MM throughout his career when all is said and done.

I know nothing can replace TJ surgery if there is a tear and that's what's needed. But the PRP got me thinking...how insane is it that a dude like Raffy, or anyone else trying to battle back from an injury, isn't allowed (and is in fact vilified) to use any medical treatment up to an including steroids and HGH to heal and prolong their career? Not only should it be allowed, but under the care of a physician it should be readily available and encouraged for these guys. I just don't understand the rationale.

I personally think it's hilarious to see people like Lastoria talking about anything they know nothing about. Want an alphabetical listing of minor league players, their hometowns, year they were drafted and favorite pie flavor? He's your guy. He's got a lot of passion for it and can give you that with some level of quality.

And I mean that. He loves the stuff and works hard for that information and there's value in it to a degree.

But from an applied baseball standpoint, if you want anything other than idle speculation, rumors and baseless and poorly constructed opinions then you should probably look to someone (pretty much anyone) else. At some point you probably need to have been around the game as opposed to just trying to parrot someone else's thoughts about it.

Opinions are fine. Opinions and analysis are great. Opinions couched as facts or insight or insider info are insincere, dishonest and worthless.

Beware of Insiders who ain't.

skatingtripods wrote:Hilarious to see people like Lastoria touting an addition of Betancourt. Stats tell you a lot about pitchers and the state of their arms.

I gotta say, Raffy was a pretty damn interesting guy to watch when he was here. Guy ran that fastball up there 92 and straight as an arrow - and hitters reacted to it like it was 99. Couldn't figure out on the TV why this was so, but it was pretty obvious that from the batters box guys weren't picking the ball up right away.

I understand there was a good chance they were bored silly by the time the pitch came, but it was more than that.